Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Whilst perusing some photos in the hopes of clearing out any unnecessary files on my computer, LO and behold I realized I had completely FORGOTTEN to post these AWESOME CARDS I received way back in the spring in a CARD SWAP I did with all my designer friends at MY PINK STAMPER.

So with out further adeu ...here's the loot I got!

Didn't everyone just OUT DO themselves? !!! Robyn certainly has a knack for choosing some awesomely creative designers and I was honored and privileged to be part of that group! I've since retired from all design teams to pursue my sewing, diy and home dec ventures, but I do admit, I miss being part of such a fun group of creative minds { sigh}

Speaking of...I am totally embarrassed to admit that cannot recall with exactness which card was made by which designer... BUT I do know you can hop on over to My Pink Stamper and check out Robyn's side bar for more information and creations from her Pink Designers!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Remember when I ventured off to the LA Fabric District
a couple of weeks ago and came back with my fabric haul of knits?!

That's less than half of it....Oops!!!

WHA-ELL!!!...talk about "worth my time"! As soon as I could, I challenged myself to make a DRESS! Yup, a FULL real ready to wear, top and bottom garment! To be honest, I was scared to death... but determined! After all... I had invested time and money in acquiring the fabric, right?!, AND spent countless hours searching blogs and pinterest for ideas and tutorials.

I was committed and there was no turning back NOW! Let the pattern drafting, cutting, sewing, serging and fittings begin!

Here's what I got for my efforts...{insert feelings of giddy satisfaction}

AAAaaa!!! I REAL DRESS!!! Something I could actually wear in public! I hadn't constructed a full garment like this since my days of trying to make Halloween customs for my kids! {sighs of happiness and relief }

Using my Brother Serger 1034D. I gift I'd gotten myself almost a year ago, I was able to produce PERFECT GATHERS! I'll never do gathers the old way again! EVER! Not to mention, finish the seams with a secure neat stitch! Highly recommend this machine, even for the novice sewist :)

If there was anywhere in this project I thought I would screw up, it would have been attaching the set in SLEEVES! But YAHOO! Success the first time, thanks to all those tutorials I studied. And LOOK the sleeves even have a cuff :)

AHHHH... and how can I forget the tip I learned about using a TWIN NEEDLE for finishing hems and top stitching for a PRO store bought look!

And last but not least...here I AM all ready to go church with my new DRESS! Taking pictures of yourself is so AWKWARD!

I hope to do some simple technique tutorials myself in the coming months so I can share what I learned. In the meantime, check out my PINTEREST PAGE under my boards for SEWING TIPS and SEWING PROJECTS for ME and KIDS.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

So at our last FACETIME session, my grandson Ethan
announced he wanted a FLYING OBJECTS THEMED BIRTHDAY PARTY !Meaning
airplanes, rockets, jets and helicopters. Absolutely no NON engine
objects ALLOWED ( kites, balloons etc ) Heavens NO! So I went a little crazy
in the craft sewing room, pulled out my new CAMEO ( love it) and sewing machine and serger and went CRAZY making banners,
party favors, and decorations! Before I knew it I had a complete FLYING OBJECTS BIRTHDAY PARTY SET...just add cake, balloons and a bunch of 6 year olds, LOL!

I packed it up neatly in a box, headed to the post office and off it went to my grandson in Utah...flying objects indeed!

I'm happy to report he received his special care package yesterday and he's THRILLED and all READY for his birthday party shin-ding this weekend!!! OHHH, how I wish I could be there to see his sweet little happy face.. but alas, the miles separate us :( ... BUT! I know my daugther will take great pictures and soon we'll be sitting and chatting enjoying our next FACETIME session! Gotta love technology, flying objects and all!!!

THE BANNER...

Using my NEW Silhouette Cameo, felt, thick striped ribbon folded in half like binding, assorted fabrics and pellon 800 interfacing, I came up with this terrific personalized banner! If you want some tips on how to cut fabric using an electronic cutting machine like the Cameo or Cricut this is a GREAT TUTORIAL

Next...the SPACE SHIP TABLE TOPPER

I simply headed to Joanns', got a yard and 1/4 of novelty fabric, ran it thru my Brother 1034D Serger to finished the egdes, ironed it and wha- la...perfectly coordinated with the rest of the party stuff :)Next the...WALL and CAKE TOPPER DECOR

Again, using my Silhouette Cameo, I downloaded some free shapes using my $10 free shapes card that somes with the Cameo when you first purchase it, and cut these out in a various sizes. These can be used on the wall with the banner or attached to some toothpicks and used to decorate a cake :)

Then THE PARTY FAVORS...

I googled "airplane party favors" and found with several pictures and tutorials on how to make these adorable party favors out of Lifesavors, Smarties, Packs of Gum and rubber bands. Who thinks of these things ??? - GENIUS !!! What would us crafters do without google images, pinterest and blogs??? Luckily, we don't need to find out!!!
Note: next time I would use the white mint lifesavors because the fruit ones are sticky to handle.

And finally ...PERSONALIZED MINI PARTY FAVOR BAGS

I found these mini lunch sacks at Michaels, so cute!!! This was my first time using the PRINT and CUT feature on my CAMEO and I was BLOWN AWAY! Super easy to do with this machine. I found this tutorial on Doodling Debbie's You tube Channel on how to make customize tags, rounding text into a circle and printing and cutting. Thanks Debbie for sharing your talents on how to use the Silhouette Cameo! She has a great BLOG too!!! I've learned so much from her :)

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Yeah...so I'm on a sewing CRAZE right now! In the last two weeks, I've sewn 2 dresses, 4 skirts, 1 pre schooler hoodie, 1 toddler hoodie dress, an infant dress and a baby hat! I can hardly believe I just typed that let along sewed it! But I DID! ...and I am SO EXCITED to sew more projects!

What's my secret? Well 3 things...#1 JERSEY KNITS -don't know why I was so intimated by this awesome textile, it's so easy to work with ... #2 SEWING BLOGS and #3 PINTEREST...bet you're not surprised with # 3 :)

Here's a sneak peek of upcoming sewing posts...

But for all you PAPER CRAFT JUNKIES that began following my blog looking for card making inspiration...don't despair! I am still cutting, scoring, folding and embellishing my other favorite craft past time, PAPER !!!

Here's yet another card I made at one of those FUN Stampin Up Parties I go to...

Once again, I chose not to use a sentiment YET! Depends on the occasion and who I'll give it to, of course...since I started doing this, it has made my life SO MUCH easier when I need to grab a card QUICK! I can pretty much chose any card in my portfolio, GRAB my large collection of sentiment stamps, personalize it and OFF I GO... LOVE IT !!!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Told you this wasn't turning into a sewing blog. Here's a new CAMEO project I worked on to organize my spice cabinet. I've had this idea filed away in my head for at least 6 months and finally got to it !!!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Hi there ~
I promise, this is not turning into sewing blog! But truth be told, I'm on a sewing kick right now and when I sink my teeth into a medium, I usually go crazy with it for a while. Confession : I'm obsessive that way, please don't judge me :)

It all started a few weeks ago when my daughter in law, Sheridan was visiting and she wanted to go the LA Fabric District and invited me along!

OHHHH! I had forgotten how fun that place is! If you like fabric, notions and bargains, of course :) Well I definitely do. I've had a love of textiles since I was a little girl but my sewing machine and serger had been sitting idle for some time while paper crafts had taken center stage. Love that paper too! Wish I had 4 hands and more hours in the day for craftin...I want to do it ALL, LOL!

Subsequently I didn't pick up much fabric for myself during that trip cause I wasn't sure what I wanted to sew. But I thoroughly enjoyed showing Sheridan around and seeing her love of fabric begin.

Then other day, I pulled out a knit stripe I did buy and whipped up a simple yoga chevron skirt that I posted last week. The obsession was on and I instantly knew I had to plan an encore trip to the district to get MORE FABRIC!

Here's how it went...but first let me mention if you're in the LA area and planning to go, checking out a shopping guide is essential before planning your trip! This place is a sea of wholesalers and retailers and you could easily get overwhelmed and worse yet, not get the best deal, if you don't know where to go. Here's a good one and I'll tell you where I went too.

FIRST STOP....The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising FIDM 919 South Grand Avenue. Not in the district, but close to it.

Project Runway is filmed here, but for non contestants and students like myself, the place to go is their Scholarship Store. It's filled with discounted clothing, accessories, even wedding dresses. But the draw for me was the little room in the back with a wall of fabrics for $1 , $2 and $5 a yard. I picked 2 bag fulls of goodies here. Mostly knits and all $ 1 a yard ! YAY!

Once I was done at the fashion school, I just headed down 9th for a few blocks right into the district.

NEXT STOP...Michael Levine Loft 900 block of Maple. It's across the street from the main store which is cool too, but the main store is not for bargain hunters. They do have a lot of stuff, it's like a Joann's on steroids, including designer cottons, but I think the prices are better elsewhere.

I was on the hunt for knits and jerseys. BINGO the loft did not disappoint! Can you believe $ 2.50 a pound?!! I filled another 2 bags here...luckily I parked directly above this store on their roof top parking lot. No frills here and the elevator is a bit scarey, but it's safe and convenient to drop off bags of heavy fabric in your trunk in between store stops. Please keep in mind thou, if you're a primadonna the district is not for the faint of heart. It can be crowded, unfamiliar and a bit grungy. But I love all that stuff, after all I was born in New York so I'm originally a big city girl. I find the beat of a crazy downtown shopping hot stop fun, diverse and inspirational. Not the stuff you find at your everyday local suburban strip mall.

NEXT STOP...LUNCH! Have you ever had a BACON WRAPPED HOT DOG with grilled onions, peppers and guacamole salsa? Sounds crazy, I know...but trust me, it's de-lish!

NEXT STOP...probably my FAV store for knits and wovens isANGEL TEXTILES 850 S Maple. Yikes ! I forgot to take a picture, too busy picking out fabric. I bought ALOT here, everything is $2 a yard. I found a picture HERE from another blog I stalk frequently.

WOW! I don't think I've ever purchased this much fabric is one HAUL, but I have so many projects in mind and the prices were so good I couldn't resist. Plus the district is in LA and I live in San Diego, a bit of a drive.

Final TALLY 8 BIGS filled to the brim with knit fabrics! YAHOOIE!

OH BTW speaking of driving...very important. Use that navigator to help you get around town and monitor traffic. There are a lot of roads and ways to get around downtown but some flow faster than others. I never take Interstate 5 downtown, it's pretty much a parking lot. The 110 and 405 are much better bets and avoid traveling at peak times. Go early, get shopping and leave early or what would be an hour drive could turn into a nightmarish 3 to 4 hour drive!

OKAY FOLKS...time to fold and organize my stash and GET SEWING!

Stay tuned for my next project!...and If you'd like to see more pics of what the District looks like...sorry, I'm not to best at taking pictures, especially when I'm obsessing...check out this blog post. It also shares some fun hot spots to see spitting distance from the district. I'm already planning my next trip :)

Welcome!

HI! Thanks for stopping by ! It won't take you too long to figure out that I'm addicted to all things diy, crafty, anything organizational and trying out heathy new recipes. Join me for the ride! I'm happily married to my dear husband for 28 years, mother of 3 amazing children, mother-in-law to 2 wonderful people , grandmother of 3 amazing little people, with yet another on the way..